The creatures of the Line: classic paintings under mutations

The Line is a weird and original indie-game, a sort of queue simulator set in a dystopian world. In this article I will focus on the bizarre creature design of the game, but if you want to know more about it, you can find more information in my review: The Line: waiting in a queue was never so extreme and bizarre .

The combat system is turn based and optional. It is possible to entirely avoid any fights, jumping the queue by waiting or bartering. The art-style of the game is bizarre but effective. All the characters are made as a sort of classic art collage, creating a strange world where classic art meets horrible mutations. Because the characters show their true face only during the fights, especially while attacking. If some huge abominations are dangerous by simply looking at them, a normal man repentantly attacking by throwing another head or with a hidden tentacle, it is even far more creepy.

Below you will find the bestiary of the Line, including only the creatures that I find more interesting. Some of them are portrayed during an attack, especially if it is showing their twisted nature. The name of the creatures are arbitrary invented, except for few ones. Many creatures are also not present in this list, including other aberrant peasants or animals, such as squirrels and crabs.

  • The man with another head

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If this man looks like a normal well dressed aristocrat, one of his main attacks will highlight his twisted nature. From one of his sleeves, the biting head of an old man will emerge, connected to scarf like a grotesque tentacle. The man is on of the most dangerous common enemies in the first area of the game.

  • The mother and the infant

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To continue with the bizarre classicism, the mother is another example of painting under mutation. Apparently simply a mother with her infant, she is however able to attack in really bizarre ways. She can attack with her clothes, which will mutate in a sort of bloody tentacles made of fabric. Also the infant can directly attack by throwing different kinds of beams.

  • The woman with dogs

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A weird woman wearing an eye-patch and a long coat. She is waiting in the queue with her little dogs. Also in this case, her twisted nature is revealed during the attacks. The dogs will mutate in a sort of amalgam of fur and teeth, very deadly and scary to watch. This enemy is quite rare and she could be faced in the second area of the game.

  • The messiah of tentacles

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This guy looks very similar to many paintings of Jesus during the Renaissance. If this half naked man could look an easy foe, also since is showing very few HP, he can be one of the most aggressive enemies. The man will completely mutate, when attacking, in a mass of tentacles and snake-like appendages. This is something that Cthulhu would be proud of! This man is one of the most common enemies in the second area.

  • The plague doctor

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A big man dressed in red, with a black hat and a plague-doctor mask. The figure is already intimidating by his own, but when will attack with his mask like a beak, it will get even worst. This enemy is very rare and could be faced only in the third area of the game.

  • The huge mutant

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A colossal abomination similar to an alien made of swellings, mouths and tongues. The monster is difficult to describe and to contextualise, but will act as fist boss of the game. The monster has lot of HP, but its attacks are quite weak. Its favourite attack is a protruding mouth, which will bite the main character like a proper Xenomorph.

  • The big wolf

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Another mandatory fight that will act as boss. The big wolf is a huge black canid, already intimidating in its normal form. During the attacks, the creature will mutate, morphing its body in a agglomerate of jaws, opening below its belly. A not so difficult fight with an interesting creature.

  • Swinemantis

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Here we are entering in the land of the bizarre. This mutant was introduced after a patch and, as the official name says, it is a combination of a pig with a mantis. Everything is well balanced into the design, creating a weird creature but somehow quite believable. The Swinemantis is a mandatory boss in the forest.

  • The Wall

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The last free update of the Line introduced a secret area where to face several hard bosses. Many bosses not only have an official name, but also a background. The dystopian city home of the Line was devastated by multiple social and natural cataclysms, and these bosses are their embodiment. The Wall represents a wall that was built to isolate the city. The huge wall is connected to a ancient roman statue, which will be the one attacking. The Wall is a terrible boss with a massive amount of HP, creating the most tiring fight in the game.

  • The Rain

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The Rain is the official name of this horse-humanoid creature, embodying the natural and toxic disaster that plagued the city. The creature has several arms, each one wielding a bizarre weapon, and he is not afraid of using them. The boss is probably the strongest attacker of the game, able to inflict massive damages if not killed quickly.

  • The Hunger

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The Hunger is the most interesting of the secret bosses. The monster is a sort of dinosaur, made entirely by living bodies fused together. The idea is creepy and well executed, creating one of the most emblematic creatures made using a collage technique. The creature is the embodiment of a deadly famine which afflicted the city. Probably people turned into cannibals, and this is why the monster is made of conjoint humans.

Monster of the Week: Uterus (Fear & Hunger)

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Origin: Fear & Hunger

Appearance: Uterus are yellow mannequins swarming through the past version of the ancient city of the Gods. They are all female automata, moving with clumsy and slow gestures. The yellow body is altered by a white skeleton-like structure, especially in the torso, making them look similar to anatomy mannequins. Their breasts are exposed, while the pants are broken, highlighting the sexual nature behind the creation of these creatures. Their yellow skin is strong as iron, impossible to remove and really difficult to damage. But the most creepy detail regarding Uterus lies exactly in their abdomens. A small creature called Embryo lies peacefully in a hole in the belly. Each new turn during the combat, the Embryo will fall, grow, and will crawl toward the party (as you can see in each sliding picture). Before attacking, the Embryo will resemble more a big and fat infant, or a dwarf, but for sure is very far from a harmless baby.

Background: Valteil was a human who ascended to the role of New God of Enlightenment. He was obsessed with creating artificial life using different methods, giving life to set of automata with different functions in the Ancient City. For example, Uterus was the one designed to satisfy Valteil’s sexual desire. According to the official lore of the game, every night Valteil summoned a different Uterus to his room, for obvious purposes. It is entirely possible that the Embryo was born from the relationship between a God, Valteil, and an artificial creature, the Uterus. Probably, the true experiment behind the existence of Uterus, also judging from the name, was to generate new life from an artificial body.

Regarding the fight itself, Uterus is a very peculiar and twisted battle. While moving in the map, Uterus is really slow and easy to avoid. Also during the fight, many times Uterus would simply waste her turn to “dislocate the joints”, making only a disturbing sound. When attacking, Uterus uses her rusty claws to inflict very few damages, but usually causing infecting wound, which could lead to lost a limb due to the infection. The real treat behind the Uterus fight is the existence of the Embryo, combined with an insane amount of HPs. If the arms of the Uterus are easy to cut, making her virtually harmless, the creature will continue to fight even without a head. When the Embryo will start to crawl on the battlefield, a creepy and pressuring invisible timer will crawl inside the player’s mind. What this horrible thing will do? How many turns before it will do something? Each new turn, the Embryo will get closer, while crying in a terrifying and disturbing way. Both Uterus and Embryo have a really huge amount of HPs, making them almost impossible to kill early-on in the game. After an intense crying, the Embryo attack will surprisingly not damage the bodies, but will directly harm the mind of the characters, inflicting a huge damage. A simple attack of the Embryo could send a character completely crazy. Uterus is a really interesting and creepy creature, with an intense fight based on concluding it really quickly to avoid going insane. Uterus is an enemy that is better to avoid.